


Tanabata

by Merry_Jane



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, Supernatural - Freeform, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 17:20:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18815494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merry_Jane/pseuds/Merry_Jane
Summary: Some things are better left unchanged. But what would you wish for?





	Tanabata

**Author's Note:**

> An alternate story where Rin never got to leave for Australia. Is Haru trying to move on from the tragedy, or...
> 
> Set five years after Rin left.

**_Tanabata, 4 years ago._ **

"Haru, what did you wish for?"

Warmth rising to his cheeks, his eyes darted toward the tanzaku he had so carefully tucked within the other hanging paper strips on the bamboo plant. Thankfully, it was nowhere to be seen. Of course, that was his intention to begin with. It was just another futile wish on a colored paper among many others.

The shrine was packed, the summer night warm. Apart from the colorful bamboo plant, the festival didn't look much like one.

"I wish to swim more this year." He said, looking Makoto straight in the eye. Like this, maybe Makoto wouldn't be able to come up with any arbitrary assumptions.

Makoto gave a slight laugh. "That's so like you, Haru-chan."

"Stop putting a 'chan' to my name." _How many times do I have to tell you?_

"Ah, then let's go, Haru. We still have club activities for tomorrow."

Haruka put a hand in his shorts' pocket, feeling the small plastic star. The chain was still attached, but the ring had gone missing long ago.

Turning their backs to the bamboo plant adorned with the colorful wishes, he looked at it once again over his shoulder, whispering his written wish.

"Come back."

* * *

 

As expected, Yamazaki is there too. It's a holiday, after all.

"Nanase." He greets without much enthusiasm.

Haruka just nods in lieu of a greeting.

From up here, the sea that is spread in front of the town is shimmering. Up here, there are two stone monuments.

Haruka crouches down, placing five different-colored paper cranes in front of the monument where Rin lies.

"Five years." Yamazaki mutters under his breath, but not soft enough that Haruka wouldn't hear.

Haruka stands. He merely nods. There really isn't much to say.

Yamazaki has his hands in his pocket, staring at Rin's monument.

"Tonight is Tanabata. You going, Nanase?"

"I'll pass."

"I see. Well, 'til next time."

But after saying that, Yamazaki lingers for a moment before turning his back to the monuments and to Haruka.

"You should swim again, Nanase. That's what Rin wanted."

He goes down the slope. Haruka watches him until he disappears.

"See you tonight, Rin."

* * *

 

**_Spring, five years ago._ **

There was an arm of the sea at the bottom of the cliff's hollow. Haruka guessed that the water there was probably between six to ten feet deep. In the summer, it looked really beautiful from up here with its glimmering shades of blue and green. But right now, it looked sort of murky as it reflected the gloomy spring sky.

"Thanks for everything until now, Nanase." Matsuoka said. His smile didn't match the glum weather at all.

Matsuoka leaned against the wooden guard rail on the side of the cliff, looking up at the sky. "Man, it's still really cold today. But all this glumness is befitting of a departure, no?"

Haruka remembered how he had called Rin to the back of their school, where his words and feelings had been blown away by the cold winter wind. Roles reversed now, he still felt like he was cheated by the cold wind.

"Why did you call me out here?" Haruka couldn't stand it anymore. Matsuoka was supposed to leave for abroad any time this week. Thinking that even on Matsuoka's last day in Japan Haruka would have to be involved in something troublesome again, he felt utterly fed up.

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to properly bid you a farewell, is all."

What about Makoto and Nagisa?

As if sensing the suspicion, Matsuoka finally yielded. "Well, actually, Nanase... I..."

Matsuoka removed himself from against the guard rail and walked towards Haruka. Once in front of Haruka, Matsuoka put his hand in his windbreaker's pocket. He held out that hand closed towards Haruka. Ever so hesitantly, Haruka held out an open palm towards Matsuoka. Matsuoka smiled and dropped a small yellow plastic star keychain onto Haruka's open palm.

"In return, I want at least five paper cranes from you. I know asking for a thousand is crazy."

What for? This guy and his unreasonable requests.

"Also, keep swimming for me, Haru."

Haruka clutched the star and put it in his shorts' pocket. Until now. Who does Matsuoka think he is, saying things like that? With or without him, Haruka would continue swimming.

This guy, always stirring him up, always getting him involved in troublesome things. And all of the sudden, he would leave for abroad. Haruka thought about how selfish Matsuoka really was.

"Well, 'til next time Haru." There really wasn't much to say, and even in the end, there was no bond between them, no bridge that would connect them. Warm farewells would be out of the question.

 

* * *

 

Haruka makes sure that the light in Makoto's room is off before heading out of his own room and downstairs. At the entrance, he wears his slippers and goes out of the house.

Up the stone steps, he makes it to the empty shrine. The bent bamboo plant is still there with the colorful wishes hanging on it.

The summer night is warm and nice. He takes his tanzaku out from his pocket, hangs it on the plant, and waits. He closes his eyes. And when he opens them, he's in that part of the shrine next to the hollow in the cliff. He's in that spring afternoon from five years ago.

Like a rewound clip from a film, every year on the night of Tanabata, Haruka has a chance to go back in time. It has been like this for four years now.

Haruka is twelve again. He is twelve again and at that same old spot where he last saw Rin. And there he is, eyes bright and smile dazzling. Every year on the night of Tanabata, Rin is alive. After this, he goes back to his eternal somnolence.

"Haru." Rin smiles. Rin knows that Haruka comes from the future.

Haruka isn't so sure anymore. But whether he went back in time or traveled to another universe, he knows that he's just glad to see Rin again. Even just once a year. None of this made sense. If he traveled back in time then why couldn't he find a way to prevent Rin from dying in a traffic accident? After talking to Rin for a while, things will go back to how they are in the present.

What is he here for, then?

As usual, Rin asks him if he still swims. When Haruka says no, Rin's smile falls a little and his shoulders droop a bit.

"Ah, but I'm in highschool now, Rin. I'm in the art club. I'm enjoying my time there, but it really isn't as fun as swimming, especially with a team."

_Especially with you._

Haruka realizes that he's talking a lot more than ever. Rin just listens to him, smiling.

"I'm really glad I get to see you Haru. Even just once a year, on Tanabata..."

Haruka feels his lips stretch into a small smile, looking at Rin who is alive, standing against the wooden guard rail like he did five years ago. But unlike five years ago, Haruka is now the one who walks towards Rin. He stands just a few feet away, unlike five years ago when they talked completely apart. It was always Rin who tried to close the gap between them, reaching out for Haruka, all along, all this time.

"Don't I really get to prevent your death?" He looks Rin straight in the eye. Rin returns the gaze head on.

"No."

Haruka stays quiet.

"Haru, you didn't travel back in time. I learned that this is an afterlife. And somehow, you're here..."

Haruka walks to stand almost next to Rin. He stares into the deep water at the hollow of the cliff's bottom.

"And I learned that I'm better off dead anyway."

Haru's head suddenly turns to face Rin. Rin who was easily moved to tears is smiling at him.

"Haru."

At the sound of his name, he looks Rin in the eye. Rin turns and rests his arms on the top of the guard rail, staring into the arm of the sea below. He leans his chest against his arms.

"Would you rather be gone forever or live a life where you are dead inside?"

Haruka doesn't know how to respond to such a sudden question.

"Some god of this afterlife told me about my future."

With a nod, Haruka urges Rin to continue.

"After leaving for Australia, things don't really go well for me. For us. So maybe things are better this way."

 _Don't say that_ , was what Haruka wanted to say, but the words left a choking sensation in his throat.

"How are Makoto and the others doing? What about Sosuke?"

"Makoto and Nagisa are still going to the swim club. Yamazaki pays you a visit every year, particularly during summer vacation. He goes to school in Tokyo."

"I see. I'm glad that everyone is doing well." Rin says, flashing Haru a sincere smile.

They're quiet for a while. Haruka thinks of something to say before his time is up, before he waits again for another year.

"By the way, Haru. What do you always write on your tanzaku?"

His cheeks are growing warm. He can feel the corners of his eyes become hot.

"That you would come back."

Rin merely smiles.

"I want to save you, Rin."

Haruka doesn't know anymore. How is he supposed to save Rin? He wasn't even there when Rin met with an accident, especially not here in this afterlife where things really won't return to how they were before.

"Keep swimming, Haru. Don't be so caught up in the things that you can't change."

Then if nothing will change, then why is he here in the first place? There must be some kind of reason behind all this. Is it really to save Rin? Or...

Rin slowly moves towards Haruka and places his hands on Haruka's shoulders. Looking Haruka in the eye, he says,

"You're alive, Haru. You should move forward. This is where my dreams for the future end. Everything is done for me. But you have so much ahead of you."

Haruka just stares back.

"You're here Haru because I'll save you."


End file.
